Pulverised fuel burner



R. D. NORTHCOTE PULVERISED FUEL BURNER March 7,1961

Filled Feb. 10, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 PULVERISED FUEL BURNER Reginald Dennis Northcote, Penn, Wolverhampton, England, assiguor to Orr & Semhovver.lncorporatcrlReadf ing, Pa.

Filed Feb. 1o, 195s, ser. No. 714,398 Claims priority, application Great Britain Feb 22,.1957

1 Claim. (CLIN-28) fuel.

Hitherto in such burners, the whole of the air necessary for lcomplete combustionv has been delivered with the fuel, some of the air being used; to carry the fuel'.

and the remainder being injected Vat theponit at whichy This has had.` v

the fuel` enters the combustion chamber. theeifect of cooling the flame since most of this ain is excess during early stages of combustion and has Vto;`

beheated. Furthermore the combustionr chamber has usually been long or of considerable volumeto enabled the total combustion of the fuel to be effected.;

For certain purposes (such, for example, as; the use of p ulverised fuel a self contained steam generating unitoffire tube type) it is necessary that 'thecornbusff tion chamber should be limited in dimensionandlthat the fuel,` should be completely burned rapidly and efficiently. It is an object of the invention to provide asV pulverised fuel burner suitable forv such purposes.-`

Inrthe burning of pulverised fuel, three stages can be.; distinguished although these overlap to sornel extent..

invention, air necessary for the combustion of the fuel'.

at each` stage-from original heating to complete cornbustion is :supplied separatelyY at spaced positionslalong.,

the length of the combustion chamber. of, ti 1 e .burner..I

From another aspect, the invention providesgapulven'sedfuel burner. into which the fuelis introducedi into 4the combustion chamber with sufcientair. to ignite;

and distgil the fuel, "and further air sufficient to burn .the I volatile matter and to burnthe coke. respectively.. is,

This invention relates to burners for burningpulverised-j sores arent OF supplied atthev subsequent stages: K dispersed with the fuel cone moves forward eoaxiallyv supplied at points spaced along the combustion chamber.

- From yet another; aspect, the. invention. providesg a pulverisedY fuelzburner comprising means for introducing,

the air required forcomplete combustion andin such;y manner Aas. to causehe ,fuel to travelin ahelical path.. around the chamberl is onedirection, andfurther means., to introducefinona ormore stages the remainder of? the air, requiredifor. complete combustionin a helical stream opposedfto' the initial, direction 'of4 travel `of the.

r fuelfintol a combustion chamber. with a proportiontof 2,913,727 Patented Mair.Y 7, 1961 That air which is-not offthe burner; carryinge small proportion of the fuel particles and` slight excess air which is mixed with any? cokeparticle remaining incompletely burned afterY the combustion process during the helical motion.

velocity of the air supplied at the subsequent stages may besay twice that of the air initially supplied' and in the; opposite direction. The inertenvelope of gassurroundingeach particle is thus subjected to an intense scouring action, stratification of the gases is substantially avoided and the gasesintimately mixed.

Thecombustion chamber is preferably of refractory material and may be surrounded by a jacket into whichl the air forlater injection into the chamber is delivered. This` air is thus preheated by transmissionof `heat' from' the refractory surface whilst the refractory surface is kept relatively cool.

To adjust the burner to different conditions, for example to suit the output of a boiler Vfired by it, the

Yquantity offair supplied-with the fuel may be kept constant whilst the rate at which fuel is supplied is varied. The quantity of air supplied at subsequent stages is varied similarly to the variation in the supply of fuel and meansj are provided to maintain the Velocityof this air for example by varying the inlet area of ports through which it is supplied. Alternatively both air supplies can be varied as required.V

Other parts ofi the invention are embodied in the preferred form oflpulverised fuel burner which will now be` described in some detail by way of example with referencestothe accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a sectional elevation of a burner in accord-- ance with the'invention,

. Fig; `2fis1a section onthe line II-II of Figi. `l,

Fig; 3 isan end viewof a detail and v Fig. 4 isa side. view of the detail shown in Fig. 3.l This burner-willbe. described in connection with its application'to. a packaged boiler though it may of course beusedwithrother types of boiler or furnace. It comprisesY a cylindrical refractory tube l forming a combustion chamber adapted. for. fixture (for exampleby means of a iianged plate 2 bolted to the end 3 of the boiler), Vin coaxial alignment with the central combustion tube of apackagedgboiler (which being of known construction1is not shown); At the other end of this tube 1 is.v an annularrefractory end plate 4 coned on the inner` surface and having a Vcentral throat 5 tapering outwardly Vvviththe largest diameter at the inner surface of the plate.-

Enclosing this cylindrical.`tube 1 is a co-aXial metal cylinder 6 spaced from the tube l to provide fan` air space 7 to which air is led through a conduit 8 at one.

end controlled lby a damper 9.

Just forward ofthe end plate 4 of the refractory` tube 1-.- isa circumferential set A of .holes 1) yequidistantly f spaced around the tube.

o n the surface of a cone having small base angle (for example 10) andare inclined to. the generatrix of the particles whereby. the, movement ofthe Particles` is reversed and, thje,`in e'rt layer surroundingfthem islre-. niovedby theincomingair stream. Duringhsuch travelf air anda proportion of the fuel is passed -coaxially off the burner.

The air admittedwith'the fuel, some of whichcarries Vthe fuel, m'aycompri'se 30%jto` 40% of the total air-re? quired forcombustion, the remainder Aof'theair being"V 575 y centrifugalforepromtes.,a hollow tubular pattern of,

fuel through the centre ofjwhich av proportion of the cone so that air passing through the. holes from thesurrounding airspace to the-combustion chamber isgiven. a` helical 'swirlinglmotion towardsVv the combustion tubeV lof the boiler.

Looked at in another way, these holes 1li, when .the refractory tube 1 isV viewed from the side ofthe tubel (as-in Fig. l) have their axes inclined forwardly at about 10 and when the tube 1 is viewed in cross-section (asin Fig. 2) the. axes of the holes 1li are tangential to a circle (indicated in dotted'lines) co .axial' with the axis of the tube 1 andl of smaller radius than-the inner'surfaceofthe tube.v In cross-section," the axis of each holef 10 may be for exampleA at 45 to thef The The axes of these holes lie` radius of the inner surface of the tube where this intersects the axis of the hole.

The holes 1t) are fairly closely spaced around the circumference; in the particular form illustrated there are 24 holes spaced 15 apart.

About midway along the refractory tube 1 there is another set B of circumferential holes 11 similar to the first set A but with their axes inclined in the opposite direction to the generatrices of the cone on which they lie. Air passing through these holes 11 is thus given'a swirling helical motion in the opposite sense to that given to the air through the first set but still towards the combustion tube of the boiler. This second set of holes 11 is also closely spaced, for example 24 holes at 15. Y

Between this second set B of holes 11 and the end of the combustion tube 1 of the burner there are provided further sets of holes similar and similarly disposed to the second set B. In the form shown there are two such further sets (C, D), each set comprising 12 holes (12) at 30 apart.

Surrounding the refractory tube 1 is a cylindrical band 13 with aperture 14 therein which may be rotated so as to obturate more or less of these holes 10, 11, 12 in order to vary the quantity of air passed through them into the combustion chamber.

A conduit 15 is connected to the end plate 4 of the burner in continuation of the throat and pulverised fuel carried in an air stream is delivered from a supply conduit 16 through this conduit 15 to the combustion charnber. The pulverised fuel is given an initial helical swirling motion by passage through a set of helically arranged vanes 17 in the throat to stratify the fuel at cone edge. These vanes are shown in detail in Figs. 3 and 4.

Passing through a sealing gland 18 in the wall of this conduit and projecting through the throat 5 into the combustion chamber'is a gas torch 19 used'for ignition of fuel on starting. This torch 19 has an outwardly diverging portion 20 at its end which with the conical shape of the throat 5 causes the air-borne pulverised fuel to enter the combustion chamber in a'hollow cone-shape. This hollow cone shape can be altered (as may be necessary when usingV different fuels or under different operating conditions) by moving the torch 19 longitudinally thereby altering the annular passage between it and the throat 5 through which the fuel passes.

The torch 19 is designed to provide a gas flame of hollow conical shape (indicated at'21) which is more divergent than the hollow cone of fuel so that the gas ame intersects the cone of fuel thereby ensuring efficient ignition thereof. The angle of this hollow gas ame may be altered by moving longitudinally a central rod 22 which carries a plate 23 between the periphery of which and the diverged end 20 of the torch the gas passes.

The gas ame is ignited by means of electric sparks between a spider 24 carried by rod 22 and projections 25 carried by the carry of the torch 19, ignition current being supplied through a conventional spark plug head 26.

In operation, the gas iiarne is ignited and heats up the refractory lining 1 of the combustion chamber. When this is sufficiently hot, the pulverised fuel is injected into the burner. This may be done automatically under the control of thcrmostats on the refractory, surface operating when the temperature is suciently high.r VThe fuel is ignited by the gas flame until such time as conditions ensure that the fuel flame is self-sustaining. The air stream with the fuel is moving in a helical path of short pitch along the combustion chamber and this movement is increased or maintained by the air entering the first set A of holes 10. z

At this stage, the air available (comprising that initially carrying the fuel and that supplied through the first set of holes) is about 30% to 40% of that required for complete combustion and has a speed of about 40 to'60 ft./ sec. During this stage, the'fuel is ignited and distilled so that by the time the second set B of holes 4 is reached, the volatiles have been released and the fuel particles reduced to coke particles.

When the second set B of holes is reached, the further quantity of air admitted is sufficient to allow combustion of the volatiles. The coke particles now encounter at a relative speed of 80 to 120 ft./sec. an air stream moving in the opposite direction and as a result, they are stripped of the envelope of inert gas surrounding them. The air can thus reach the coke particles to burn them. Additional air for this purpose and to complete the combustion enters through the remaining sets C, D of holes, to be joined by air remaining unburned moving coaxially. By the time the fuel reaches the combustion tube of the boiler, it will be completely burnt and the products of combustion will be available for heating water surrounding this tube. It may in some cases be desirable to line the entry of this tube with refractory material 27 but the greater part of its length will be available for heat transfer.

The air admitted through the circumferential sets A to D of holes is preheated in the air space 7 surrounding the refractory cylinder, thereby cooling the cylinder. The motion given to the combustion gases tends to keep them in a hollow cylinder coaxial with the refractory tube 1 and slightly spaced from the inner surface thereof.

The burner 19 may be adjusted to suit the operating conditions of the boiler which it is firing. The primary air (that is the air carrying the fuel to the burner) is kept constant and the rate at which fuel is supplied to this primary air stream is varied by a steam pressure or temperature control modulating the speed of the fuel Crusher which supplies the fuel or the opening of a fuel delivery valve or the like. The amount of additional air is varied in accordance with the amount of fuel by varying the position of the damper 9 in the conduit 8 supplying this air, preferably by means controlled by the steam pressure or temperature.

Alteration of the quantity of additional air supplied without alteration of the area of the inlets 10, V11, 12 to the combustion chamber would alter the speed at which this air enters. To avoid, this, the number of holes through which the additional air enters is varied by closing or opening some of them by rotation of the band 13 surrounding the refractory tube 1. Such rotation can be effected by linking the band in driving connection to the damper operating handle.

A photo-electric cell may be provided to scan the flame of the burner and to operate means to shut off the supply of fuel should the ame go out.

It will be understood that the invention is not restricted to the details of the preferred form which may be modified without departure from the broad ideas underlying them. For example, other means of controlling the supply of air may be used.

I claim:

A pulverized fuel burner comprising a refractory lined *annular combustion chamber, an inlet throat for pulverized fuel, means for delivering fuel through said throat in an air-stream only sufficient in amount to permit ignition and distillation of the fuel and in a manner to cause said fuel to travel in a helical path around said charnber, a gas torch having an outwardly diverging end portion, said end portion of said torch defining an annular space with said throat, means to move said end portion of Said torch Vaxially of said throat to adjust the angle of the cone in which said fuel enters said combustion chamber, means defining a plurality of openings extending through the wall of said combustion chamber at spaced points around the circumference thereof adjacent the inlet end of said combustion chamber, said openings being tangential to a circle substantially smaller than the wall of said combustion chamber and being inclined toward the outlet end of said combustion chamber, means cient to burn the volatile matter in said fuel, a series of additional circumferentially spaced openings extending through the wall of said combustion chamber, said additional openings also being inclined in a direction toward the outlet end of said combustion chamber and being tangential to a circle smaller than the interior diameter of said combustion chamber and being inclined in a circumferential direction opposite to said rst openings, means for supplying air through said additional openingsl in a helical direction opposite to the direction of the movement of fuel and in quantities sufficient to burn the resulting coke particles, a casing surrounding said cornbustion chamber, and a band rotatably mounted within said casing, said band having a series of apertures which selectively align with the openings in the combustion chamber Wall, said apertures being substantially smaller than the combustion chamber openings whereby when said band is rotated, the openings in said combustion chamber wall are partially obturated to reduce the supply of air therethrough Without changing the velocity of the air supplied through said openings.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,468,008 1,762,505 Burg lune 10, 1930 1,781,236 Lilge Nov. 11, 1930 1,795,347 Reese Mar. l0, 1931 2,284,708 Woolley June 2, 1942 2,800,092 Burg July 23, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 573,515 Germany Apr. 1, 1933 255,080 Great Britain Sept. 22, 1927 302,255 Great Britain Dec. 11, 1938 Dyson Sept. 18, 1923 

